


A Safe Place

by Yuki_Frill



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kid!Nathalie AU, NO pedo so don't call FBI, Nathalie-Adrien bonding, Past Child Abuse, a lot of flashbacks and history, give Adrien a sibling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2021-01-16 05:02:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21265508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuki_Frill/pseuds/Yuki_Frill
Summary: An Akuma attack gone wrong has turned a handful of unfortunate adults in Paris into little children. Ladybug lost her Lucky Charm item mid-battle and was unable to reverse the damage. Gabriel sneered over Ladybug's failure, but when he returned to his office to a shrunken personal assistant, he wasn't so sure what to feel about the situation anymore.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I introduced this AU in my instagram account @yukifrill two weeks ago and I'm finally posting the story. It's not my best work but I thought if I didn't post it now, I never would.  
I hope it's at least enjoyable!

“Ma’am, please get inside and stay safe.”

Chat Noir had told her with his usual extravagance and a charming wink. “Leave the fight to us superheroes!” And he leapt away to join his partner.

That was the last thing she remembered.

Unknown to him, however, Nathalie was already hit by the supervillain, whose power she couldn’t quite guess yet as others who had been hit hadn’t exhibited any changes except looking as feverish as she was. The heat reached her head and she could barely address her surroundings. Looking for Adrien or at least asking Chat Noir to find him for her, went forgotten as her mind morph into clouds.

She wanted nothing but to close her eyes and sleep the pain away. The only thing delaying her from doing just that was the thought of Gabriel’s utter disappointment. He had been growing very soft towards her these days; not screaming his head off at her screw-ups and being uncharacteristically attentive. She could barely remember the last time he’d reprimanded her for anything when he used to do it all the time until a couple of months ago. The only time he’d expressed infuriation these days were usually accompanied by worry and it was only when she was being reckless as Mayura.

But Gabriel would still make sure she died a horrible death if something happened to his only son.

She had to do something.

Yet it already took everything in her to make it back into the office after Chat Noir dropped her by the front door; all the while staggering and almost seriously injuring herself the many instances she nearly fell.

Whatever the hit did, it was physically painful enough to momentarily paralyze her thought process. She let herself collapse to the cold floors before she reached her desk.

* * *

Nathalie had expected to wake up to Ladybug’s magic washing over her and taking the pain away—hopefully returning Adrien safely to where she could immediately reach—but when her consciousness was back, her whole body still felt sore.

How long had she been out?

“…but then the victims will not be healed,” she heard Nooroo’s soft voice after the little buzzing noise Gabriel’s secret elevator made.

“Nothing we should concern ourselves with,” came Gabriel’s voice, “The damage is not serious. And if all goes well, Ladybug’s failure this time will bring about distrust and disappointment from the citizens.”

_If all goes well, _Nathalie’s headache prevented her from making comments but she senses irony in that phrase.

It wasn’t the time.

She fought to lift her heavy eyelids if only not to let Gabriel catch her slacking off. But when she did, she found herself in a familiarly unfamiliar office. Everything was still the same except the fact that everything was bigger. It was blurry, too. That’s when she realized she wasn’t wearing her glasses.

Or they were there, but slipping off.

She was about to bring her hand up to fix her glasses but found her entire palm covered by sleeves. Weird. Her outfit shouldn’t be this oversized.

At the same time, her sudden movement alerted Gabriel, who snapped his head down at her, on alert as if he just caught a foreign presence, as his pupils grew larger every second. Nooroo was mirroring his expression as well.

What was left of her fever didn’t make it easy to grasp the situation nor what caused the two to react in such a way.

“Nathalie, you,” Gabriel slowly approached her, bending down and frowning. “You were hit as well? I told you to come back sooner.” He sounded both angry and heartbroken at the same time.

_Come back sooner._

She began to remember more events. She was supervising Adrien’s photoshoot when Gabriel messaged her, telling her about this potential Akumatization that could possibly lead them to victory. She remembered thinking that, even after countless failures, his confidence never ceased to amaze her.

She’d whisked Adrien away, made up a sound excuse to take him home, and they were in the car nearly arriving to the mansion when the supervillain had caused an uproar and blocked the road. Everything after that was a blur.

Before Nathalie could ask what he was talking about, Adrien burst into the office in a hurry, yelling for Nathalie. In a blur of purple, Nooroo disappeared behind Gabriel.

“Nathalie?” He looked around. “Are you ok—_oh, no_…” He rushed to her as well, hand hovering in front of his mouth in shock.

“Adrien?” Gabriel was visibly surprised. “Where have you been? Why weren’t you with Nathalie?”

Nathalie didn’t miss the brief panic in Adrien’s face as he fumbled for an answer, “We got separated amidst the panic. I think I ran too fast and she lost me. Please don’t be mad at her.”

The frown on Gabriel's face deepened; if it was possible. “I am upset at _you. _You knew better than to run off in panic and leave your guardians. You are supposed to stay with an adult during such situation.”

Only as she watched the two Agreste men argue did she realize they were basically _towering _over her. Gabriel she could understand; the man was freakishly tall she constantly felt small around him even in her heels. But Adrien? Last time she checked she was still considerably taller than him.

What in the world was going on?

Adrien was still trying to explain himself. “Father, it was a really messy situation—”

“Enough arguing, Adrien." Gabriel put a hand between them. "Can you not see that we have a _situation _as well?” He then aggressively gestured to her. “Nathalie seems confused.”

She really was.

"What--" she nearly choked when she listened to her own _squeaky _voice. "What the?" she mumbled, blinking.

The gigantic office. Her oversized clothes. And _now _the horrid voice. Nathalie's feverish brain finally put everything together.

And as if he could read her mind, Adrien provided her with an answer, “Nathalie, you’re a kid!"

Of course she was.


	2. Little Assistant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathalie adjusts to her brand new situation and rejects the Agrestes' smothering while she's at it.

Adrien scrambled through the part of his closet that’s remained untouched for years.

Nathalie sat on the boy’s bed, patiently waiting for him to find her a set of his old clothes that could fit her. From her tab, she’d looked into their current situation. Apparently, Ladybug’s lost her Lucky Charm item—a lollipop—mid-battle, and now the city’s adults-turned-children would continue to suffer the aftereffect until the spotted superheroine retrieve that piece of candy.

It would’ve been less difficult of a task if it wasn’t Halloween, where candies were distributed and changing hands every second. The citizens were trying their best to halt the movement, but children were not made of rules. It also didn’t help that Paris had the highest number of candies with Ladybug pattern wrapper in any shape or form. The Lucky Charm item was easily lost in the candy store. Probably already bought by an unsuspecting family and distributed to their neighbourhood children who also exchanged the sweets with their friends and so on. It was an almost impossible task.

Nobody wanted to imagine what it would mean to the victims if said candy was consumed.

Ladybug and Chat Noir had returned home to recharge but promised to return to look for the item again. Being the dutiful superheroine that she was, Ladybug was back in a flash. But her partner, on the other hand, was still nowhere to be found.

Nathalie rolled her eyes. The negligent bum; making his partner fix the mess while he was off doing god-knows-what. Sounded like a man she knew well.

“I don’t think anything here fits you, Nathalie,” Adrien said after a while, pushing a bunch of clothes that seemed to perfectly fit Nathalie’s current body size, out of sight. “We can go shop for a dress or something at the mall. It won’t take long.” He probably thought he was being subtle.

The corner of Nathalie’s lips twitched; the boy’s being so obvious it’s amusing to watch. “I told you, Adrien, we don’t have time for that.”

Adrien slumped. “Come on, Nathalie, Paris is still searching for Ladybug’s lollipop. Work’s probably stopped for the whole city at this point.”

It didn’t take a genius to realize that Adrien absolutely _adored _the situation. He was careful enough not to show it openly, though. Afraid to seem rude, maybe.

Nathalie jumped off the boy’s bed, dragging her oversized turtleneck over the floor towards his closet.

“A great deal of the events I’m handling involve guests from abroad. Their time does not stop for us.” When Adrien seemed as if he was about to say something to rebut her statement, she immediately added, “And I refuse to make unnecessary readjustments for as long as my brain still functions like it normally does.”

Sighing, Adrien moved from the closet so he's no longer blocking her. “Fiiine.”

Nathalie browsed for clothes that might fit her. Adrien’s clothes were donated to charity every time he grew out of them, so it was a hard quest finding anything that didn’t make her look like a walking humiliation. She was starting to wonder if going out shopping for a dress like Adrien suggested would’ve been a faster solution. It would’ve made him happy, too.

Just as she was about to suggest just that, however, Adrien produced a bag of clothes he kicked out of sight earlier, “Actually, I have a bunch of stuff that might fit you,” and displayed it in front of Nathalie. “Here.”

Adrien didn’t keep _all _of his childhood clothes, but the ones he kept all had Gabriel’s logo on them. It was surprising; the fact that he kept them all. She was there for his childhood and thus she was aware that Gabriel used to design outfits for his only son. Adrien would get one full set of four-season clothes every birthday, until at one point, that thoughtful birthday gifts turned into the same lame pen every year once the company grew bigger.

“Thank you, Adrien.” Nathalie gave the boy a small smile before going to scan the sets to see which one fit her current body size.

They were all made with Adrien in mind, so the colors might not look flattering on her. She mulled. Gabriel hated it when she wore unflattering colors—when she’d just started working for him, he’d made her a list of color combinations that suit her and she’d been pairing her outfits based on that list for the longest time. It’s been carved so deeply into her lifestyle that she found herself purchasing and arranging even her PJ’s using that list even though Gabriel would probably never see her in them.

“I recommend this coordination.” Adrien said, sounding so much like his Father when he did, and shoved her a set of outfit that if she remembered correctly, was from his sixth birthday. “I figured you’d want something warm.”

It certainly looked warm. Ivory dress shirt with high collar and expanding long sleeves, a warm-looking sleeveless cardigan the color of cinnamon, a pair of peanut-butter-colored trousers, and a pair of charcoal black shoes. The color combination wasn’t in the list Gabriel had given her, but it was the least of an eyesore compared to the other greens. Adrien certainly had Gabriel’s eyes.

Still, she was interested to know why he thought she preferred something warm so she asked him, “Why?”

“You get cold easily, don’t you?” Adrien answered innocently.

She didn’t consider herself that type. “Why do you assume I do?”

“Well, you always wear long sleeves and that turtleneck even in summer so I figured…”

Nathalie grew silent; suddenly aware. Then she looked at herself to make sure her legs, arms and neck were all fully-covered. “You’re not wrong,” she told him when he started to look worried.

Adrien sighed in relief.

As Nathalie went to gather the clothes so she could get changed, Adrien's phone went off. It was a notification for live news. She didn't know Adrien followed the news so earnestly but she guessed she never really knew the boy that intimately in the first place.

"I, uh, need to go back to school for afternoon classes." Adrien said, turning off the news at the part asking where Chat Noir was. "Will you be okay?"

“Yes." The girl nodded. "I will notify the Gorilla to standby for your ride to school.”

Nathalie grabbed her tablet in reflex, but the unexpected weight threw her off balance as she scrambled to hold it still. Thankfully, Adrien was quick on his feet. He instinctively knelt over to catch the tablet before it drop to her little bare feet and did serious damage on them. 

"Nathalie, careful!" Adrien snapped, heart hammering against his ribcage. The little girl flinched at the sudden outburst so Adrien lowered his tone again. "It's fine. I'll just go downstairs and tell the Gorilla about the ride myself. Spare you off these little tasks at least."

Nathalie felt a jab at her pride but said nothing of it. "Alright. Thank you, Adrien. Then, I will get changing and return to work immediately."

The look of disapproval on Adrien's face was less that subtle but it seemed the urgency to return to school got the better of him as he just silently nodded and handed her her tablet back.

* * *

Nathalie was faced with another Agreste obstacle the moment she arrived to the office; _after_ struggling to open the heavy doors and requiring assistance from the Gorilla. Gabriel shot her a look and she knew he noticed the clothes she was wearing but he decided not to comment on it.

“Take a day off.” Gabriel instructed when she pulled her work tablet out and nearly dropped it because of the weight.

He was looking down at her from his position by the podium. With the sort of tough man Gabriel was, Nathalie thought at least he would spare her off this entire you-are-a-kid-and-therefore-should-not-work-or-do-anything-at-all fiasco. Well, she was thankful he at least didn’t trample on her pride further by crouching down and talking to her on eye level.

“Sir, not you, too.” Nathalie narrowed her eyes at him.

“Nathalie, please. Look at yourself.” She did, when he gestured at her up and down, feeling slightly offended. She was struggling to climb up her now-giant seat. “If I let you work, it will be within the realm of child labor.”

“Is that supposed to be a joke, sir?”

“Only if you find it laughable.”

Nathalie let a small smile slip. “A little.”

“Good to know at least one of us seems to find this situation hilarious.” Gabriel deadpanned. “Now, do we have an agreement? You will be taking a break until the situation is resolved.”

Nathalie twisted her lips in mild disdain. “Please. Be realistic, sir. Who on Earth will take over my job if I took a day off?” Her boss seemed to have overlooked the bigger picture.

Gabriel straightened his posture. It's what he does when he doesn't think things through. “That is not something you should concern yourself wi—”

The man could be so naive sometimes. “Sir, what is your social security number?”

“Pardon?”

“The password to your company email? The name of the Italian investor you’re supposed to hold teleconference with in an hour? What time you’re supposed to take your supplements? Your next dentist visit?” Nathalie felt just a tad bit sadistic today.

Gabriel froze; overwhelmed. “I… find these questions very truculent.”

“And I find your proposition nonviable." Nathalie finally found her way to the top of her seat but she turned out to be too small for it. She could barely see Gabriel sitting down so she got up and stood on top of the seat with her hands on the desk to balance herself. "With all due respect, sir, you have absolutely no backup plan. It’s always been my job to develop one.”

She could see Gabriel trying hard not to make remarks (or puns, if she was less lucky) on her ridiculous and otherwise not intimidating position despite her strict tone.

He fixed his perfectly tied tie. “You are being exceptionally sassy today. I do not condone to this.”

A little smile of victory made its way to Nathalie's chubby face. “I believe it’s the child hormones, sir. Freedom of speech feels less consequential now.”

Gabriel scowled, defeated. “Fine. Do what you want.”

“Thank you, sir." Wasting no more second, Nathalie unlocked her tablet and opened Gabriel's schedule. "Now, you are four minutes late for your teleconference with Audrey Bourgeois. I take it she will not be happy with that.”

Talking her boss down was a refreshing change of pace. If being a kid meant she was allowed free pass to that then the whole situation seemed less inconvenient now.

Not bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Nathalie starting to enjoy being a kid? Let's see how it works out for our little assistant ;)

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like the premise of this story. I still have no clear plan, but I hope to find what to write as I go. You can tell me what you want to see in the story in the comment section and I'll see if I can include it ^^


End file.
